I have worked in the Postal
Service for 20 years. Two years ago I transferred from a plant in NY to a
plant in Raleigh NC. Several weeks ago the APWU posted something on their
bulletin board about involuntary reassignment. That they might get rid of 49
clerks and 16 mail handlers. That they could reassign us as much as 500
miles away. I would like to know what some of my rights are. How does my
seniority affect this reassignment. Do they go by my time in service in the
postal service or do they go by the time I transferred to this plant in
Raleigh? Do they have to get rid of all casuals first? Do 204B's have to go
back to craft? Do they have to stop giving out overtime? Do veterans have
preference if an in involuntary reassignment should happen? Also the
president of the local APWU made mention of people coming from a plant in
Tennessee to the plant I work at in Raleigh that they would have seniority
over us. Is that true? Also, how can they get rid of us if they are bringing
in people from another state? The union is no help here and management
hasn't told us anything here. I called labor relations and they said they
cannot discuss this matter because a manager regional area meeting hasn't
happened yet. So who can I go to for answers? name withheld (posted
3/5/09)

Expeditor dies after on the job fall in Denver MPA parking lot

Postal Service clerk Eric
Smith is being buried at FortLogan
on Monday, January 14 at 1 PM.
He fell on ice at the Denver Mail Processing Annex (off Tower Rd
and I 70) while he was inspecting trailers as part of his job and he hit
his head. He tried to get up, but reportedly said he was dizzy and he died
a few days later. While he was lying on the ground, awaiting aid, a Postal
Supervisor went out and scattered ice melt on the ground near him. The
Postal Service is trying to show that the area was safe, but the union
(American Postal Workers Union – Denver Metro Local) has statements from
employees that the area was salted after the fall. (posted
1/14/08)

Re: Christmas Eve Holiday Schedule

Question: In the ***
District or at least in my office they are closing some stations early. The
window clerks at these stations must report to mail processing at the Main
Office after closing at 2:00 pm. Can they do this?

Answer: I've noticed many post
offices closing early on December 24th to save window hours. The answer to
your question is not a simple "Yes" or "No."

Management can probably close the retail
windows and move the people to mail processing in back in a one-time
situation like this. Retail hours are governed by POM 126.4
. Management knows that most employees on December 24th would
prefer to go home early and burn their annual leave. In previous years I
recall incidental leave request forms being readily available, sometimes
already pre-approved by the supervisor! It wouldn't make sense to close the
retail windows and increase mail processing hours.

However, no APWU-represented employee can be involuntarily reassigned to
another station on a temporary basis unless management provides
transportation there and back. See the memorandum titled "Use of
Privately Owned Vehicle." If the employee refused to provide their own
transportation, management would have to work them in their current station,
grant them administrative leave, or provide them transportation as mentioned
above. PTFs, of course, can be sent home early.

Don Cheney
Auburn, WA(posted
12/21/07)

Update: USPS Online Earning Statements Available Only
to PCES and EAS Employees

(11/28/07) Executive and
management employees who use Payroll Net To Bank — the system that sends
their pay directly to their bank accounts — can now view and print their
earnings statements online.

The new service is available on LiteBlue, where ePayroll will begin storing
earnings statements for the latest 13 months, or 29 pay periods, online.

Executive and management employees who receive a printed payroll check will
not have the ability to check their earnings online. They will continue to
receive their earnings statements and their printed checks at their work
location.

USPS will continue to mail hardcopy earnings statements to each employee’s
address of record.

Employees can access ePayroll with their Employee ID and USPS PIN by logging
on LiteBlue from home or work, scrolling to the Employee Self Service
section and clicking on the ePayroll link. Employees can find more
information on using ePayroll at the Frequently Asked Questions link, or by
clicking on the Contact Us link.

Employees can sign up for Payroll Net To Bank through PostalEASE. source:
USPS (posted 12/1/07)

From a question posed
on 21cpw.com: "It was announced
today in our 5 minute standup that EAS employees will no longer be receiving
a biweekly pay statement. They will have to access that information online.
The supervisor also said that employees will probably be next. Just
wondering if you have heard about this? Thanks."

Unofficial Answer: "Thanks for your note. We are aware of this change
and we're planning an article in the near future. This was originally a
pilot program for EAS and PCES employees. There are no plans at this time to
extend this option to craft employees." (posted 10/12/07)

Trenton Metro APWU Local Update

Travel Payment

Every member who received the initial payment for the anthrax travel pay
back in December 2006, will additionally receive approximately $539 00.
Those few members who had not received the proper amount will be paid the
amount they were shorted plus the $539.00. For the last 2 months I have been
trying to implement the settlement and have met serious resistance from the
Postal Service. I have been in touch with our attorney and we are taking
steps to get our compensation. I will advise all of you when the payment
will be made.

National Day of Observance for President Ford

January 2, 2007, was the National Day of Observance for the late President
Ford, if you were required to work that day you are to receive a day of
administrative leave.

Item 10 of the memorandum of understanding states -- "Where provisions in
this Memorandum of Agreement provide for a day of administrative leave to be
taken at a future date, such leave must be granted and used within six
months of the National Day of Observance or by the end of the Fiscal Year,
whichever is later."

You must use this administrative leave day by July 2, 2007, or forfeit it.

By Ronald
Williams, Jr., Mail Handler, United States Postal Service
As a young retired military leader currently employed with the United States
Postal Service working in a Processing & Distribution Center (P&DC), I get a
daily panoramic view from inside the mail giant working behind the scenes in
an industrial environment. I love the work I do processing, distributing and
handling U.S. Mail and using some of the state-of- the-art technology available
to get the job done. I can tell all the readers that from my own perspective
that we could put our “two cents” in for the next few years like I’m doing right
now and our U.S. postage would still be the most affordable rate around the
globe.

At the same time I am frustrated with the unprofessional and inappropriate behaviors
on the part of the front line leaders I am exposed to in this super-sized government
agency. Based on my daily experiences I can see the signs and symptoms that
have led to the pain of many current and past employees who have unfortunately
resorted to or considered a fit of rage within a system that ignores complaints,
minimizes employee training, and discounts the talents their employees bring
to the table. Instead, we focus on how much mail we can cram on a processing
belt and into automated machinery as fast as we can while accepting shortcuts
and overlooking details due to the fast pace of the day in a deadline oriented
business.

Our front line leaders push and divide employees by way of exclusion, favoritism,
through use of bully tactics, gawking techniques, and use of threatening postures
while hovering over employees creating the feeling of being in a concentration
camp. Supervisors and managers chase and hide behind quantities of mail instead
of processing the mail “by the numbers”. Floor supervisors diminish their credibility
by disrespecting their bosses behind their backs by addressing them with names
associated with their hair color such as “Little Red Riding Hood, and Blondie”
and physical attributes like being bucktooth blatantly in front of the troops.
Floor Managers have made comments to groups of employees stating “you wouldn’t
have liked to work for me 26 years ago” I’m thinking hmmm, you know something
you’re right!

Opportunities to discuss business issues are rare to nonexistent until it is
time to fill out a survey that is perceived by the employees to benefit the
managers who have learned to master the yes and no questions so they won’t have
to be bothered with details. A favorite boasting tactic for management in my
facility is to tongue lash employees with threatening comments to the effect
of if you don’t like it here, you can go work at the fast food restaurant down
the street. Why should anyone run from poor leadership? Most of the masses have
worked hard to earn their position in the organization through interviews, testing,
background checks, medical screenings, sweat in the trenches, and from a few
extra points for holding Old Glory as a military veteran. If you can make it
through all that and do your job well then you’ve earned the right to work for
the Postal Service.

Being treated with dignity and respect doesn’t stop when we swipe our badges
at the gate. We focus on individuals more than teams inside the P&DC making
the facility a personality distribution center rather than a facility that concentrates
on teams and processes. It takes a village to raise this postal child with the
first initials U.S., last name Mail. On any given day I often see 2-3 supervisors
and or managers standing around shooting-the-lip about their retirement, the
latest sporting event, or complaining about whatever and at the same time ignoring
the benefits of the diversity surrounding them to improve operations.

Let’s say these folks each make a $50,000 salary, that’s $150,000 standing around
getting paid to do nothing. If there is a need for a supervisor let’s teach
them coaching skills and get rid of the babysitter mentality. If we really want
to save some money the company could keep $50,000 of the $150,000 to put back
in petty cash and let a self-directed team of 15 employees divide the $100,000
for consistently exceeding goals better than an untrained individual without
coaching skills and who isn’t a resident expert, and I bet pretty soon you won’t
be able to recognize the place because you just motivated a team rather than
an individual with a cash incentive.

The team can call a manager for assistance if intervention is needed to complete
the task at hand. These adults who make important decisions outside the facility
like buying houses, cars, insurance, and raising children would continue to
make important decisions at work by building bridges across operations so we
are communicating and tapping into the abilities of all members to safely and
effectively get the mail processed in the least amount of time. Changing times
requires changing minds. The park your car, park your brain mentality does not
work in the 21st century especially when our customers can vote for our service
with their voices and their feet. We need all hands on deck to be empowered
so we can collectively check the “altitude” of this sonic Eagle and soar above
danger so we can get to where we are going quickly.

At some point in our history we are going to have to put people in front of
mail. I believe we do mail well, but I think we do our own people poorly! My
point is these behaviors are intimidating and conducive to a hostile environment
that potentially exposes each and every employee to direct or collateral damage
in the form of deaths, injuries, and declining service that will impact our
bottom line. I strongly believe that if we take care of the people our service
to every address in America will be off the planet and unmatched by any competitor.

Until managers come out from behind the numbers and share business knowledge
about postal operations, facility operations, postal reform, transformation
plans, rate hikes and whatever else is on the horizon I guess I’ll have to keep
reading the newspaper, listening to podcasts, surfing the web, and watching
the media to get what I can’t get from my home away from home inside the Postal
Service. And when my neighbors ask me the postal worker questions about business
that affects their business I guess I’ll refer them to the Public Information
Officer. I ask again, “why are we raising postage rates?” (posted
4/9/07)

Mismanagement at the (Sacramento, CA) Royal Oaks Carrier Unit

Recently, there has been numerous problems
at the Royal Oaks Carrier Unit in Sacramento, California. The problems
revolved around the usual customer complaints. Mail was late and constantly
misdelivered. Businesses complained that they closed at 5 PM and their
carrier had not arrived. Missed scans and Express Mail failures were
among the worst in the nation at the Royal Oaks Carrier Unit. Overtime
was at astronomical levels. Route inspections and adjustments made the
problems worse. Management of course, blamed the carriers for not doing
their jobs properly. Management attempted to discipline and remove some
carriers. There were a few improper incidents on the workroom floor
regarding hostile confrontations between management and carriers. The
NALC complained that the Station Manager had created a hostile work environment.
An investigation revealed that the accusations were correct. The Station
Manager was reassigned. The new Station Manager ordered sweeping changes.
A new floor plan with changes to clerk duties and hours was enacted.
Several new supervisors began working at the Royal Oaks Carrier Unit. The
Postmaster had a stand up announcing that the new supervisors were his best
and that he expected improvement in efficiency. The changes did not
improve anything. The clerks complained that the new system was confusing,
inefficient and that mail was being delayed. The Station Manager decided
that the solution was to change the clerks to later start times and have the
clerks work Sundays. Again, nothing improved. Several employees
complained that their pay checks were incorrect and that they were underpaid.

On December
1, 2006, I noticed that there were about 100 Social Security checks and twenty
feet of first class mail that was not distributed. I contacted the District
Manager's office and reported the mismanagement. Auditors from the Sacramento
District and the Pacific Area converged on the Royal Oaks Carrier Unit.
Hundreds of feet of curtailed mail was discovered. An audit of clock
rings disclosed numerous deletions and unauthorized changes by management.
Most of the clock ring changes adversely affected limited duty and disabled
employees. Because the limited duty employees were treated more
harshly; I filed a class action EEO complaint. The new Station Manager
has not been working and is rumored to be considering retirement.
(posted
12/17/06)

Use the revised
PS Form 1608 only for issuing emergency salary to an employee that did not
receive a scheduled payroll check. Make sure that an emergency salary is not
issued before the date of the scheduled date of the payroll check.

Note:
Do not use the revised PS Form 1608 for employee payroll adjustments.
If an employee receives a payroll check that is less than amount due, use
the appropriate form: PS Form 2240, Pay, Leave, or Other Hours Pay Adjustment
Report; PS Form 2240-R, Rural Pay or Leave Adjustment Request for
PS Form 1314; or PS Form 2240-RA, Rural Pay or Leave Adjustment Request
for PS Form 1314-A.

**********

As I understand this article,
when an employee is missing a significant amount of pay, they will have to
wait for a PS Form 2240 Pay Adjustment to be processed. The only time
PS Form 1608 Emergency Salary Authorization will be used is if the employee
is missing an entire paycheck.

Some employees will find
this new policy to be a financial hardship. Previously, a person
short one full-day's pay or more could request an advance of his/her missing
salary. See Handbook F-l, Section 822.7. This would put
pressure on the manager to get the pay adjustment processed in a timely manner.
Without this option, employees will experience more delays in getting their
missing pay.

Apparently some managers who took over timekeeping duties from clerks are
doing a poor job. As a result, pay adjustments have increased.
This is one way to cut back on the number of emergency salary authorizations.
(posted
10/14/06)

Re:Drinking in Public Place While In Uniform

-
Drinking Off-Duty/In Uniform - I remember that
the character Cliff Clavin on Cheers, who wore a postal
uniform to a bar in Boston (a public place) and even drank beer in postal uniform,
was praised by PMG Marvin Runyon. From 1982 to 1993 when the series initially
ran, and up through today's reruns, the Postal Service never protested this
depiction of a postal worker, despite the glaring violation of the ELM! The
trademarked USPS eagle emblem was clearly visible on his uniform (see photos).When Azeezaly Jaffer put his bar tab
on the USPS, wasn't he on duty? (posted 9/10/06)

From Reader:
Livermore, Calif. Customer Services Manager is one of the nation's top-ranked
roller skaters. Note: article is from USPS Pacific Area Update
(click picture for larger view) (posted 8/7/06)

Over 20 Injured Workers Escorted Out of San Diego Postal
Facility??

(posted 3/06/06)

"they just escorted 12 clerks and mailhandlers
out the door in san diego plant for not taking their new job offer."

"they all had been reviewed and
did not like their new assignment. they were given new job assignments based
on updated medical statements. the san diego local just got a new president
and he is clueless, under the old president these employees would not have been
permitted to clock in and then taken into custody and paraded around the building
like common criminals. time cards and badges taken. then sent home."

"Just a note from San Diego,
Ca. I'm an injured carrier from 2002, which was sent to CFS right away in a
limited duty status as a carrier. OK. So last week, I had a meeting with this
pilot program that they are doing here with all injured workers that have reached
P&S, MMI status. I was told they have NO WORK FOR ME and several other carriers
too. We were referred over to OWCP/DOL and escorted out of the building and
our badges taken away from us. At our main plant last week, 24 employees (clerks)
were also escorted off the job. I can't believe they are doing this to us. They
went with the first group of people that were P&S status within the first year
and was given a job offer, (carriers to clerk jobs). The second group that were
P&S after one year were given a removal. They did not go by senority, so employees
with 15-20 years were given a removal. It aint rights. Were can we get a Class
Action going her so that we can get our jobs back. I am in the process off going
thru more surgery after be placed on P&S status with the first doctor. My treating
doctor now says I would need further surgery to take care of my pain I am in.
Any advice would be appreciated."